Day 34 - Reedville, VA

We headed out of Urbanna with every hope of reaching Solomons Island but the Chesapeake Bay was a mess again. So, after a couple hours of waves crashing over our nose *submarining* we decided to pull into the little town of Reedville.

In 1874, Elijah Reed sailed in here from Maine and decided to expand his mehaden fishing and processing business to the Chesapeake Bay with "Reedville" as its headquarters.
He founded the town (obviously) and set up various plants to utilize every bit of the plentiful menhaden fish in the area. Many of his plants were steam powered and he built a 350' tower (The Reedville Stack) to show all how well he was doing. Currently, they are fundraising to "save the stack" from its crumbling/leaning condition.

By the early 1900's this industry made many Captains very wealthy and it is claimed that Reedville was the wealthiest per capita area in the country. (Note the amazing magnolia tree at The Reed House)

There are still enormous fishing boats here and the lovely smell of fish processing fills the air when the wind is just so. But it is much quieter now.

Luckily, there are some very impressive old homes left along the Main Street and nearly every home in town has waterfront and a boat or two

Next stop, Annapolis, if the Bay settles down.